What do Cuyahoga County residents need? Highlights from the United Way community assessment

United Way of Greater Cleveland 2014 campaign kickoff and pancake flip

United Way hopes to provide better understanding of poverty in Cuyahoga County

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- More than 15 percent of residents in East Cleveland, Cleveland and Warrensville Heights don't have a bank account, according to a new United Way report.

The alarming statistic is one of the insights found in months of research spearheaded by the United Way of Greater Cleveland, revealing what Cuyahoga County residents need, and how nonprofits can serve them – for example, by teaching financial literacy classes.

"I think it's doing more than just informing us how to do business," CEO August Napoli said. "Everyone has it in them to have that philanthropic spirit. You can only invoke that in people if they understand what (the issue) is. So we have to talk about what poverty is and what it looks like."

The results come from a combination of demographic data and feedback from nonprofit employees, residents and the agencies that aim to help them. And they are leading officials to pick new priorities. Four issues -- education, basic needs such as food and shelter, financial stability and health -- will guide the United Way's choices on where it funnels money. The organization is also looking for new ways to spread its message outside of its trademark workplace campaign.

But the study reveals other insights about Cleveland and Cuyahoga County, about who lives here and how to improve the community.

Take a look at some of the highlights from the community assessment.

Marvin Fong, The Plain Dealer

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Here's how Cleveland compares to its suburbs

Child poverty rate in Cleveland is 53.5 percent, double that of inner-ring suburbs. The city's rate is five times higher than in the suburbs outside of the inner-ring.

Cleveland's median income in 2015 of $28,831 puts it on par with Detroit. The county's median income was $45,297.

Cleveland's ethnic demographics very greatly from the county's and the suburbs. In Cleveland, 52.1 percent of the population is black, and 40.1 percent is white. The suburbs are overwhelmingly white at 65 percent and 75 percent for the inner and outer rings, respectively.

Cleveland's unemployment rate is higher than the county's overall, but has decreased from 10.8 percent in 2010 to 6.3 percent in 2015.

In Cuyahoga County, about 12 percent of residents have less than a high school education. About 28 percent are high school graduate or equivalent. In Cleveland, these numbers go up to about 22 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

Both senior and LGBTQ populations are growing and need more services, according to providers during focus groups.

More than half of Cuyahoga County residents are enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid.

United Way of Greater Cleveland

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Here's how Cleveland stacks up to similar cities

To show how Cleveland stacks up on different issues, researchers chose three comparison cities and the counties that surround them. Cleveland and Cuyahoga County are comparable to:

Milwaukee and Milwaukee County

Detroit and Wayne County

Pittsburgh and Allegheny County

But how does Cleveland stack up?

Cleveland ranked second in homelessness compared to the other cities, behind Detroit. The city also ranked second in transit spending, behind Pittsburgh.

Cuyahoga County's infant mortality rate is one of the highest in the nation – but is still behind Wayne County, where Detroit is located. It's tied with Milwaukee County, with 9 deaths per 1,000 live births from 2013 to 2015.

The study didn't compare the cities in other key areas, such as education or access to housing and food.

United Way of Greater Cleveland

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Here's who responded to the survey

The Center for Community Solutions, a non-partisan research group, surveyed 1,422 Cuyahoga County residents.

About 68 percent of the responders identified themselves as United Way donors

57 percent identified themselves as working for a company.

More than 70 percent of respondents held a bachelor's degree.

The top priority for these respondents was the economy and jobs, followed by education.

More than 175 representatives from United Way-funded programs participated in focus groups. They identified basic needs, such as food, shelter and transportation access, as a top priority, followed by education. These neighborhood meetings included people who work for the programs and those seeking services, Napoli said.

"United way of Greater Cleveland has done nothing to this extent," he said. "I'm a believer in getting the voice of the people – they're going to tell us a whole lot more ... it's a wonderful blend of information."

The United Way conducted interviews with more than 50 local leaders, including politicians, officials from universities researching health and human service issues, and directors of government services. Their top priorities were identified as poverty and basic needs.

United Way of Greater Cleveland

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Here's how people responded

Focus groups were invited back to take part in forums where they ranked different priorities. Among their top priorities include:

Job training

Learning opportunities and programs outside of school

Affordable, safe and stable housing

Help navigating services and someone with knowledge of their case

Violence prevention

Throughout all of the feedback groups, interviews, focus groups and surveys, the study picked five key social issues that kept surfacing: workforce development, health and human services, education and basic needs.